#i have the script done so i'm on the storyboard step of it

[tobythetrashyartist]

i am here to announce that i am making a clancybearer animatic for the line thanks for coming to my ted talk

[foursidecity]

Anyways I think everyone should go watch win or lose, I feel like 90% of what I'm seeing is posts about how they censored a trans character and 10% of people actually praising the show for what it COULD do with what they are given, im not saying disney didn't do a bad or whatever, but it's one thing to to recognize the failings of a greedy corporate entity, and another to completly ignore and degrade the writers and artist that poured their souls into this series and that character

Here's what DIDNT happen:

-Disney didn't remove the trans plot line because of the election, theyre just like that. Theyve done it before theyll do it again regardless of the political climate, don't blame this on trump, blame it on network execs<<this is a fairly new take and it's so stupid. Animation takes time and the editing was done a year before the show released

-the character is still in the show, and will have her own episode still in the next batch of episodes released, we really don't know much information about her now still, and I'm holding out hope theirs even a small refrence to the original storyboard/script. But really at this point we just don't know how much has changed

-disney stepped in, pixar had nothing to do with the changes, only pointing this out because the writers at pixar obviously wanted this character to happen, but disney didn't want that story to be told on their platform, it's important to. You know, know your enemy and not just point fingers at everyone in the vacinity

-Chanel Stewart voiced Kai and is a trans voice actress, I don't see alot of people mentioning her and you should, she put alot into this character and was obviously really upset when her story was changed

This post isn't about letting disney off the hook, by all means pirate it, I actually encourage you to! But how often do you get an animated show about co-ed sports? That's something in it's own right that I'm amazed they were even able to keep in script, how often do writers get to try to make trans storylines that resonate with and include trans people? Even if it didn't go through, we know about it, talk about it!! Spamming 'fuck disney!!!' Under every pixar post isn't doing anything

[meo-eiru]

Do you have any tips on starting a VN is really wanna make one but have no idea how to actually start I have a few ideas but the writing and planning out is what overwhelms me and starting things is always a struggle how did start the process on your VN?

Well I'm no pro by any means so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm sure everyone has a style they find more productive but I'll talk about how I personally go about it as an artist who prefers drawing over writing (I'll be using the stuff I made for a now scrapped vn idea)

I usually like to draw a simple storyboard to get a gist of exactly where I'm planning to start and the story I have in my head. It's a very simple and quick step and don't be afraid to make some changes on the first version you drew.

For example here I have the start of the story and the 3 endings with the main diversion of the story line.

Then once I'm done with that I make a more detailed and longer storyboard of the actual game. I decide exactly where the options appear and where they lead to. This one is important, I usually go back to check what I decided on quite often, don't think "oh I can remember this no problem", you probably won't. Write down notes.

Once that's done I basically dive into writing the actual script, while following the story line I had decided on beforehand.

Visual novels are quite easy to code but they are very dialogue heavy, and dialogue writing is very different from writing normally. You can't just go "he said she said", you need them to come directly from the character. Don't be afraid to spend as much time here as you need.

As I said I'm not a pro, for example Sel is a writer and not an artist and I know she just immediately starts with the script after some planning, writes an overall script and adds in more details every time she goes over them.

There are no strict rules to making vns, there isn't a schedule you're forced to follow. See what feels easier to start with and go from there

[starheavenly]

hiii!!! loving your locket comics!!!!!! just wanted to ask a few questions about your process, if you dont mind :D

whats your general process like?

do you do thumbnails, how do they look like?

roughly how long does it take you to complete a comic panel or page?

how detailed are your sketches? do you do multiple?

do you have any specific techniques for lineart?

do you typically use references for your comics?

generally, how much effort and focus do you put into your comics?

do you have any advice for drawing comics?

sorry for for the absolute bombardment of questions, lmao. just really enjoy your art and comics and very interested in the behind the scenes!! feel free to skip any questions (or this whole ask) well wishes and salutations!!! :D

Hello! I'm so glad you enjoy my comics, and I totally don't mind breaking down the process!

For a normal comic page, I would likely actually write a script since it's much easier to keep track of dialogue and actions. But since these are short, I just write it into my thumbnails.

Step 1: Thumbnails. Easily one of my favorite parts, since I get to throw all my ideas down. I do these comics on a 2-panel grid, so I don't have to worry about actual paneling, and it allows me to focus more on the setup of each shot. Think of it like storyboarding!

Step 2: Add cleaner thumbs if needed. I actually made 3D models of Deadlock and Ratchet's chest in Blockbench, so I often trace them to save myself some time! (It might look insane, but I promise, for me, it's not.)

Step 3: Lettering! I actually like to get the lettering out of the way right away since it can take a while. Ever since I started treating lettering as its own form of art, my skills have gotten better, but it also takes much longer.

Step 4: Clean sketch! I'm just now finding out that people think I’m doing lineart for these? I am not… these are all just clean sketches. Maybe doing the blackwork gives the illusion of lineart?

Step 5: Color! Most of these comics are in black and white to save time, but it also lets me focus on values and shot framing again. I add my glow overlay to the eyes, and boom, done!

Roughly how long does it take you to complete a comic panel or page?

It really depends on how complicated the panels are. I like to step out of my comfort zone. I know the Grimlock and Misfire one took longer because of how many panels there were and the fact that I was drawing characters I’d never drawn before, but I’d say it usually takes around 5-8 hours for a whole page.

Do you typically use references for your comics?

I'm literally the reference GOD- we all know this. But yes, I love using references and doing character studies. I have yet to do a study on LL Drift, but I have a few references of him that I’ve made.

Generally, how much effort and focus do you put into your comics?

I mean, I wouldn't say I don't put in a lot of effort? I put in enough. I don't know… there's a point in the clean sketch process where you can kind of just turn off your brain. I'm passionate about comics, but we can all agree there's a point in a drawing where you just zone out.

Do you have any advice for drawing comics?

I think being able to balance dialogue and visuals is super important. I don't know if you guys have picked up a graphic novel from Barnes & Noble recently, but if you open a page, you'll see a character sitting with the biggest bubble you've ever seen, filled with paragraphs of text. While I get it—being a novel as much as it's graphic—I personally like to visualize emotions more. If it means adding two more panels to make an interesting dialogue setup, I don't mind doing it. Another thing to remember is that not all panels need to have details or 100% effort. Sometimes you need to simplify and move on, and that's okay! Those two extra panels that are giving you a better stage setup might be the ones that need fewer details and less time. I would consider my comic page work and my 4-panel work very different. One is about paneling, setup, and visuals, while the other is very much like storyboarding. Both are skills you learn with practice and study.

[ninakoll]

For comics, what is your work process like? How do you get from idea to a finished comic?

HELLOOOO OAAA omg this is a tough nut to crack as im a pretty chaotic writer in that way...... i think it depends whether i'm creating longform or shortform, i actually recently talked abt this elsewhere so i can bring an example based on the sylvanian discourse comic as shortform! long post with sketch pages and thumbnails etc ahead, ill put it under a cut! 🧡🧡

usually i start by jotting down really loose ideas which i do in my native language; ill translate it for you but i sent myself a mad scientist-esque message that went like: "kohaku giggling at his phone, rinne asking what's so funny and kohaku tells them that love assigned them sylvanian families creatures, and shows them. niki's is obvious, everyone agrees. same with kohaku's, plus rinne does pleading face emoji at how cute it is. rinne's critter could get criticism on being uncool? google. himeru's reaction to his own is no way.. himeru is this one and shows a pic on his phone to which everyone is like ..:3 himeru we didn't know you'd thought about this already but himeru just demands everyone to agree with his choice more than aira's. aira later gets a text from kohaku that himeru didn't agree and aira is PISSED"

sdfsdfdklhs so this was my script, as you see the story changed a little while thumbnailing bc i figured out a funnier way to write it; + i cut the scene change for pacing reasons and constrained the ending into one panel with texts on a screen...! then i had to start finding the critters to assign them, i presented my assignments to friends to check if im accurate or out sailing:D:D mwah mwah thank you to my council of love

next step was writing dialogue which i did while sketching the pages super loosely as little thumbnails, i like to get my layouts solidified when thumbnailing too and i usually do my cleanups straight on the scaled up thumbnails. when i write longform i usually thumbnail out more than 6 pages at once to see how the pages flow and write loose mad scientist type scripts chapter by chapter. i rly do miss working on longform comics 😭😭😭 (my webcomic FLFR became abandoned bc i deleted my twitter years ago and realized later that my only way of accessing my webtoons account was thru twitter. customer support said its gone forever so 🇫.)

as you see in this example i rly like to have my text flow and kind of lead the reader's eye thru the action... i think all comic artists have different approaches to certain things but i like loose and dynamic paneling very much; it's so much fun to play around with!! i'm also so so pleased that people noticed in the comic how kohaku was becoming more and more excited and confident with every showing, it was a little difficult to figure out how to make a repetitive and essentially very boring action (someone holding up their phone) work in comic format without feeling copypasted or trite. more thumbnail examples from my sketchbook for the rinniki comic (i like that i wrote notes for myself on top of drawings, like "üldine" to refer to the panel being a wide shot:DD wonderful overlap of storyboarding and comic work!!):

overall i like writing comics since you can add endless details. what makes comics work for me is giving up on being a perfectionist or you will never finish a comic. one finished comic is better than the perfect comic in your head because you'll have the experience and free space in your head to write another comic, instead of the first one stewing in your mind. :D and so on!! be bold, don't be scared to draw ugly, and draw bad comics. and definitely write it with an audience in mind, except the audience is 50 versions of you and what you enjoy/like most!!

i started my first longform comic in high school and idk how but i managed to finish it, it's not a great comic, but i'm proud that it's done and it taught me a lot. same for FLFR which i hope i can rewrite/redraw some day since it's a story i still want to tell and the characters are rly near and dear to my heart, but i think i totally got burnt out from juggling work, comics and things going on in my life at the time :( surprisingly i also enjoyed working on a comic project where the client wrote the script and had character designs ready but mainly because the client's script writing style was similar to mine which at times was like "idk they fight and something funny happens here"

thank you for this ask!! everyone start drawing comics NOWW 👊💥

[turbo-tsundere]

You know what, fuck it.

It's not nearly finished, but I'm going to start uploading my Gonta fancomic page by page. This thing, that is.

Once the whole comic is made and published, whenever that'll happen, I'll just reupload it in one big post here and on pixiv, too, since it's better suited for manga format.

The first page's gonna launch from the queue tomorrow. Next ones, we shall see - I suspect the uploads will be rather spaced apart and irregular.

But hopefully it'll be nice read to y'all, all things considered ; ... ;

Ngl, I feel a bit stressed that this will force me to draw pages in chronological order - part of keeping myself motivated was based on the fact that if I get stuck on drawing any given page/panel, I can just hop onto any other bit in the storyboard.

But in the end it actually might be a better option to enforce a more strict, structured and linear approach - jumping around so much created this daunting illusion of nothing ever truly progressing despite pouring tons of time and effort into drawing; Plus one of the problems I created for myself, is that the second half is more completed than the first one, because I was too afraid of touching it and messing up lmao. As a result I keep working on it a bit, then putting it away for a while, because it's just too intimidating as a whole. ("It's gonna be easy now that script/storyboard is all done, and I don't have to figure out anything no more, it's just mechanically completing one panel after another! (' 7 '✿)" famous last words)

Meanwhile finishing one page at a time at least feels like completing a concrete step, giving a boost to keep on going? This is how it worked with my old webcomic at least, and at this point I'll do anything to force my very much unwell sponge of a brain to work at least semi-consistently.

And while I can't promise any regular schedule, neither weekly nor bi-weekly, it starts to feel like posting rarely and irregularly, but still posting anything bit by bit, is a far better option as opposed to working on the project for god knows how many more months/years while stressing out over how much more time it will take, breaks included, without me showing anything. At first I wanted to avoid this, but, well, that was a few months ago, so whatever, change of tactics XD.

[kamikotorayama391]

Break announcement

that's all for now. I'm taking my usual short between-chapters break. Gonna be working on some other stuff and work on storyboards.

Btw it's that rare time when I've started preparation for the next step when the previous wasn't done yet (I already have storyboards for 2 pages of chapter 6 AND the whole chapter 6 script done! WOW)

I'm not leaving, no. I'll be here. Just without the main comic for now

So, uh... I'm not sure about how long the break will be this time. I'll give you a sign when i'll be ready to post the continuation OwO

[laughroditee]

Thinking about the COD urban fantasy AU that I will be writing a fic for. I have a background in fine art and comics and have experience with video editing, so because of this, this fic came to me as a movie trailer, which I plan on making an animatic of. (If I can get my husband to learn how to voice the characters, I may include voices as well.) But it came from the idea:

What if there was a necromancer who would raise your loved one, but if you didn't pay them, they'd take control of them?

And that leads us to the

🟡 "Repossessed" Trailer Script, starring necromancer!graves

(please note that I do not have any formal training in actually formatting scripts so these are just my notes for the animatic. Filmmakers, don't come for me.)

(OPEN on a cityscape at sundown, cue music, if any.) Voiceover: "The name's Graves."

(NIGHTTIME. cut to a scene of a man, back to us in a cemetery. Close in on headshot, he turns to face the camera.) V/O: "Phillip Graves."

(INTERIOR OFFICE, DAYTIME. Graves is seated behind his desk, feet up, leaning back in his chair, maybe playing with a Rubix cube or something, speaking with a client, whom we can't see yet.)

Client: "Phillip Graves? As in 'fill up graves?' That's a bit… on the nose isn't it?"

Graves (smirking bc he's a cocky mf): "I don't so much fill ‘em up as I do empty ‘em out nowadays."

(Cut back to scene of Graves in the cemetery where a green, eldritch light glows from his hand.) V/O: "As a necromancer, I can bring anyone back from the dead."

(Cut back to Graves in office, looking at client.) Graves: "For a Price."

(Graves leans forward, cocking his head): "What would you pay?"

(Flashes of the deceased, happy.) V/O: "What would you do...?"

(Flashes of the deceased and the client together, loving etc huehuehue) V/O: "...To have them back with you?"

(Cut to Graves sitting behind his desk, holding up photo of the deceased between two fingers, looking at his client, cocky and eager.) Graves: "Pretty little thing like this? What's it worth to ya?"

(Cut to John Price seated in the chair opposite the desk, looking grief-stricken, desperate, and determined): “Everything.”

(cut to black, dramatic pause if there's music)

(Cut to first person POV, looking up at Graves, giving you a hand.) Graves: “Welcome back, darlin', to the land of the living.”

When I post the art (storyboards and eventual video) for this, it will be on my art blog @momokeen and reblogged from there. (I try to keep my 18+ stuff here separate from my main blog, even though I update more here, currently.)

Issues I know I will have:

Time - my chaotic brain always has a billion projects going at once, which is why I wanted to at least put this much out. I have at least four other fics that need attention, not to mention actual real life, and running a small business. I will be doing it though. It may not be good, but it will be done, eventually.

Finding the right music. Currently I'm looking for good epic trailer music. I have zero money to commission someone to compose something custom, otherwise I would ask my friend if he'd take the job.

Voices (because I want them 😩)

The decedent. I had planned on writing the fic as a "x you" POV, but if I'm including a visual trailer, done in the way that I want, obviously I have to pick one way the decedent looks, which I know will leave many people feeling left out. This is why I tend to make OCs, as it's easier for me to make decisions that my OCD and trauma brain won't let me make otherwise, because "this person is their own person and this is how I've developed them." (Also I'm new to fanfic, pls forgive me. I know OC x Canon is the less-liked option here. I really struggle with trying to make everyone happy, to the point that it's debilitating and I honestly don't know what to do.)

And finally, ✨mental health✨.

But yeah, that's it. That's a thing I'm gonna make. This was step one. Thanks for reading. 🖤

[md-intermission-archive]

Hey! Do you have any advice/tips for storyboarding or starting your own animatics? I have two projects I’m working on and I want to make them look somewhat organized 😅

Also how long did intermission take? And how did you pace yourself? I have adhd and I’m so terrified of burnout from hyperfixating on the projects I have is why I’m asking!

I really enjoyed Intermission, I hope you are taking a break and I hope to see more projects, Murder Drones or not from you in the future!

Thank you so much!! I'm happy you enjoyed it!!

I also deal with ADHD, so I may be able to provide some helpful advice.

When it comes to storyboarding, what I found is very important is is consistency and having a plan. Before I begin boarding, I break my project down into smaller steps. First, I write a loose script in my notes app of what I want to board. Nothing fancy, just random ideas that come to me. The lack of fancy formatting helps alleviate the pressure of commitment.

Once that's done and I feel like I have the bones of my boards, I proceed to make thumbnails. This can be on paper or in my drawing program.

Here are some rough thumbnails of the first scene from Intermission. I just wanted to get a general idea of what I wanted to board. And once again- the formatting is sloppy, but the lack of formatting makes it feel more laxxed :3 Once you have your boards mapped out, then you can finally start boarding! Just follow the map you made. You don't have to follow it to a T, but I find it's better to have a guide to follow rather than shooting in the dark.

As for consistency, as someone who deals with ADHD, hyperfixation tends to drive me. So with that in mind, for Intermission I made boarding part of my daily routine. I told myself I would board every day. How much? However much I'm feeling like. That can vary from a single 5 minute drawing, to 8 hours of boarding. Listen to your body. If it says it's not feeling it today, then only draw one quick thing. If you're in the zone, keep going! Progress is progress either way. It's just super important to maintain some form of consistency, and to not make the project feel like a chore.

You can always come back to it later when you're feeling more up for it. Baby steps is very important.

[38sr]

Hi! I love MAWS it’s so good!! It’s literally changed my mind on Superman as character bc he was never one of my favorite DC characters until now!

I have a story boarding question if you don’t mind!

What’s your process for starting to board a scene? Do you thumbnail out first? Do you look at reference?

I want to be a storyboard artist but it‘s daunting to start the actual boarding process because I don’t really know how to start? #industryQs

Hello hello!!! Aw, thank you so much for enjoying the show! Hopefully you and fans will also love the second season once it comes out~ Oh, my process for storyboarding. Well for reference, I've only worked on script-driven shows which means there are writers who write the scripts as opposed to board-driven shows where board artists are writing dialogue on top of doing the storyboards. So when I'm first given a script I (obviously) read it and ask a lot questions to my director (if possible the writer) for things that are for sure needed to be there. Usually this can be like "Hey, throughout the section a character is feeling this emotion" or "Make sure the screen direction is this because of this other element". For me, these are like tentpoles I place down and work within so that I'm giving what my director wants. But once I ask the questions and read the script way too many times, I make very bad thumbnail drawings on post-it notes haha. Normally if I get a good script, I can clearly see the images in my head and quickly put it down on paper (and it's not very good haha, it's more like this is the composition I want). Sometimes I don't see certain parts as clearly and I'll ask my director for feedback/advice and we work together to put it all on paper. Sometimes I do look at references if I'm stuck on a section or I really liked how a show did a shot and I wanna dissect that further. It's all very dependent on the episode in how much I look at references and how many questions I'll ask, but that's pretty much how I start. Even if it's for personal stuff that I'm not writing a script for I still just get the ideas down on paper first and ask my friends to roast me haha. It doesn't really matter if I make the most perfect drawings because if it doesn't work, if it doesn't flow well, if the visual storytelling isn't solid, then doing all that embellishment I did is wasted. That's why I always tell myself it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to work. After that, I go into doing actual roughs in Storyboard Pro and might change shots to enhance the shot flow or start adding character acting. But again, it's not clean or very good drawings. I draw mannequins and make sure the heights/proportions are right for composition reasons and get everything down so my director can edit my work and provide feedback. But yeah, a lot of my process in the beginning is getting the ideas down on paper first and making sure it works before embellishing it. It can be very easy to wanna make one beautiful shot and not distribute that energy equally across a whole sequence. I want the whole sequence to be good, not just that one shot. Once that's all said and done (meaning I've gotten my director's feedback and such), that's when I clean up and make the boards more presentable for the final pitch. For me, storyboarding is a marathon and matter of making a good shot flow rather than flashy boards. Get it down on paper, edit out what does and doesn't work (asking for feedback helps with this step), embellish once I have the foundation down. Not every board artist does this but this is pretty much my process haha. I hope that answered your question!

[egg-noodle]

I made a short film this year! \o/ https://vimeo.com/897307551 Pass: what is Val? (one word, no caps, no plural)

It's based on the characters from Knives In Your Eyes. A little write up about my goals and thoughts on this project below.

I had wanted to see if I could still make a film after having a stroke. I haven't made a film since 2014, so it felt like I was dusting off cobwebs for the first few months haha.

I'm an animator at my day job, so I didn't want to focus on the animation at all. Instead, I wanted to put all my energy into all the other steps of making a film (script, storyboard, layout, backgrounds, fx, compositing, etc), since I'm far less proficient at those things.

I wanted to explore Hunter's fears, mainly their fear of becoming inhuman and of being seen. I love the idea that Dream and Nightmare see the dreams that they're eating, and thought that Hunter's conflicting desires surrounding Val would be a great opportunity to see them feed off a single dream.

I lengthily blogged about my technical goals and process elsewhere so I won't write it all again here, but I hope the 'Val is intensely unsettling, and Hunter experiences what they think is the worst case scenario but is still somehow Into It' vibes comes across ok. I Am Cringe But I Am Free! :D

The cool thing is, I can already spot the areas that need improvement and know exactly how I'd go about making those changes, so I feel that overall my critical observation skills have leveled up a lot :D I'm really proud of myself!

If anyone is curious about software: boards were done in Storyboarder, backgrounds in Clip Studio Paint, and anim/fx/comp in Harmony.

[oxygen-masks-devblog]

Writing Progress Post #1

So I learned that people like, blog about their writing process sometimes. Maybe we should do that! I have come to learn that writing about writing sometimes makes it easier to write later, when you can't manage to jump into it right away.

It's definitely been harder to work on this project that I want it to be. At the beginning of the year I wrote us a schedule for 2025 that would have the storyboards for the comic done at the end of the year. We already have a pretty detailed plot synopsis of the whole thing finished, and it can be broken up into 10 chapters/scenes, so that's 1 scene per month plus 2 months buffer. Seems simple right?

Yeah well, we're somehow a month into the year already, and I only managed to finish 2 storyboard pages, which were really just cleaning up sketches we already finished. And mind you I anticipate each chapter to be 20-30 pages long. So that's not working.

Turns out this is just even less of a Discovery-Writing-style book than I already thought it would be and writing scenes sequentially just isn't the way it will go. Which means pacing it so that I'm done by the end of the year is just going to be a shot in the dark.

It's so strange how our workflow for every project is just totally different from all the ones before it. Something something being plural probably has something to do with it. The workflow for this project looks like this:

Scene brainstorming(loose storyboards on paper) -> Refined storyboards (digital text so beta readers can read it) (the stage I'm in now) -> Beta reading -> page thumbs (thought this would be optional, is not optional) -> final page production

No script step at all, maybe that's because this is an action comic. Also I thought I was experienced enough to skip thumbnailing but when I sketched out the test episode we're in the middle of I absolutely regretted not doing it. Again, maybe because this is an action comic.

Anyway I also thought this brainstorming step would be optional and it was just happening organically whenever I needed to write down an idea really fast. But no I think it just needs to happen for the entire dang story. And then once I have all these disconnected scenes finished I can piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle during the refined storyboards stage. (and i do think our writing process is always going to work like this now post-syscovery but that's a story for another post)

So all that is to say, how do I set a new goal so I can finish this comic before I die 2027? Well, I'm trying to sketch out at least one page of brainstorming sketches (which is roughly equivalent to 2 storyboard pages and 2.5 comic pages) per day (Saturdays are optional because they're our busiest days at work). I set that goal last week but was only able to do one page every other day, but I guess that's better than nothing.

The new trouble is just deciding what scene to work on next. The solution is just... Whatever scene is the easiest. It seems like there's just this queue of scenes in my brain getting cooked up in the background all the time. I'm able to just pluck out whichever seems to be the most refined, and sketch that out.

So I'm a little worried about working too fast and then running that queue dry. But I guess I'll solve that problem when I get to it. I also have a feeling the pace of this queue is actually controlled by how full it is, so as long as I'm freeing up space by putting it to paper, it will always have new ideas. But try convincing my Procrastination Logic of that.

Oh and I also discovered another thing holding me up was not understanding some characters in the supporting cast well enough. So I'm getting that worked out too. I couldn't really write their introduction if I didn't know what they were like or what impression I wanted the reader to have, so jumping ahead to scenes that were more development-y and about how they impact the plot has helped too. I've been experimenting with writing drabbles and throwaway scenes that take place before the events of the book. It's hard to write stuff that won't make the final cut because it feels like a waste of time, but if it's to help figure out how the characters feel and interact with each other, it's still valuable.

[pipmcmayhem]

Pip's Process for Making Comics :)

Hi everyone! I know I'm rarely on here, but I've decided to share my process for my webcomic in case it could help anyone. I've been building my story for many years in my head (it's a paracosm that's been with me basically since I could hold a pencil), and it wasn't until about 2021 that I was finally able to start getting it down, and this is the process that works for me. This process is more aimed at super-lengthy ongoing multiple-arc type things, so those with massive fantasy epics, this is for you!

1) Make an outline for the arc. I make a list of each episode, and the basic events that happen in them. I typically have 11-13 chapters per arc and 2-3 focus-events happen in a chapter, because I try not to have "too much going on". Breaking down the focuses in a list is also useful in that you can gauge the flow of the focus and not have it "jump around" too much, and also balance how much you focus on one character to another, etc.

(As you can see, this is very basic, but keep in mind I've had "the party episode" in my head for years so I didn't need to write out a scene I already knew like the back of my hand in the list)

2) Once the list is done, start writing the episodes in a script-like format. If you're doing your project solo, literally no one has to understand the script but you. Write it how you envision it in a way you can understand. And don't be afraid to stray slightly from the list! Do whatever feels more natural.

3+) After you've scripted the final scripts for each episode, write down ANOTHER list of all the significant things that DO happen, so you can reference back to it in the future to avoid things like plotholes and accidental repeat of events. You could also, instead, edit the original list from step 1; I just personally like to have multiple documents so I can see changes and where they happened. 4) This is where the drawing begins. What I do is make REALLY rough drafts for every page in each episode. Think kinda like thumbnailing for storyboards; I just scribble down the basic events I want happening, the area of the dialogue (with the beginning few words of the line, to keep track) And after that, it's clean(ish) sketches*, lineart, coloring, etc. I typically do all the roughs in order, and then do the same with clean sketches, and then do the rest page-by-page. (*EDIT: I wan't to elaborate that I highly recommend adding the text in as early as you feasibly can so you don't have to worry about text fitting, as you can work around it)

IMPORTANT NOTE! DO NOT be afraid to stray from ANY of the initial writing! If your script's dialogue is fine but doesn't have enough pages, make more pages! As you can see, I had to split what was originally going to be 1 page. There was even a crucial scene in chapter 3 of my comic that didn't even happen in the scripts, but it needed to. If you feel a change is needed, do it! Don't restrict yourself too much; see the script as more of a guideline.

So yeah, there's my method. I know it was unprompted and all, but for so many years I felt hopelessly lost when trying to get this MASSIVE story down, and my goal of posting this is because if there's the slightest possibility this could help someone, I want it to do that. :) Hopefully this helps someone, but now is my time to say that I'm by no means a professional; I'm self-taught and I've only been making the actual comic for 3-4 years, however I have 5 out of 10+ of the arcs fully scripted :) If you're interested in my comic, you can read it here! If you check it out, know that that means the world to me ;w; Have a nice day/night <3

[revretch]

Hey! Big fan of your work - I've recently started delving into Blender animation, is there any way you could share the workflow u use when animating stuff?

Of course, but be warned that my workflow is highly idiosyncratic!

First off: Rigging. How I do it depends on exactly what I'm animating. If I'm rigging Sophodra, Gregorsa, or one of the humans, I'll use Rigify, which ships with Blender (though you'll have to enable it in add-ons). It's free, and for roughly human-shaped figures, it gets the job done.

For the other insects, and especially for the arachnids, it gets a little harder. See, arachnid limbs have a lot of joints, and most rigging add-ons aren't equipped to handle limbs more than three bones long--and I definitely wouldn't want to set up inverse kinematics for that many legs manually. So for those, I use an add-on called FreeIK, which you can get on Blender Market for only $30 (but be sure to read the docs!): https://blendermarket.com/products/freeik

FreeIK is amazing! It uses a method called "ephemeral rigging," which lets me pin any bone in place whenever I please, making it much more like animating a puppet and allowing a much finer level of control than traditional rigs. Sadly, that can be a little too much control on some model--hips on humanoid rigs will shoot out at random. For something like a spider, however, it's absolutely perfect! (I recommend using it in tandem with Selection Sets, another add-on that ships with Blender, to keep track of which bones you want pinned.)

Moving on from rigging, I also use an add-on called Onion Skin Tools. This one is only $10 on Blender Market: https://blendermarket.com/products/onion-skin-tools

As the name suggests, it lets you use onion skinning like in 2D animation. I couldn't imagine doing a walk cycle without it! With its help, I'm easily able to make a repeating walk cycle that loops in place while I move a parent empty around. (And if you're using FreeIK, you'll definitely want to be using a parent empty for placement. It's powerful, but bones can start behaving unpredictably if you get too far from the model's origin. I use two nested parent empties--one for walking, parented in turn to a master empty used for general placement.)

As of work on episode seven, I've also start incorporating Grease Pencil. Grease Pencil is an excellent tool all around, allowing you to do 2D animation in Blender! My style is cel-shaded enough that I can combine it with 2D. Not only do I use it for storyboard reference, but I also use it to draw on top of the scene, for where the 3D just isn't cutting it. I import the storyboards and other drawings with an add-on I made myself--Blender by default only lets you import black-and-white shapes, but my add-on imports as strokes, and can handle color: https://github.com/revereche/lineart_to_gp

I've also started incorporating AnimAll, which is fantastic (and also ships with Blender!). Shapekeys are already powerful tools, allow you to tweak the mesh manually when the rig isn't doing what you need. AnimAll lets you give each Shapekey multiple frames, so you don't need to set up a ton of Shapekeys to do one complex chain of movement. (Be warned it can cause file bloat, though, so use it wisely!)

As for the workflow itself, I go in this order, more or less (after writing the script and making any needed model adjustments, of course):

1.) Storyboarding. Since it's just me, they don't need to be great quality. The most important thing is making sure of the placements, getting the poses down in gestural strokes, and most importantly, getting the expressions just right.

2.) Recording voices. This can also be done before storyboarding, but I like to be sure of the scene flow before I commit. I used to start with rough placeholder voices, but ended up with awkward timing when the length of the final lines didn't match the original well enough. (Good thing none of my characters lip sync!) So, now I do the final audio on this step.

3.) Staging. Previously, this meant eyeballing the storyboard while I roughly placed the characters in the scene. Now, I import the storyboards in a Grease Pencil parented to the camera, so I can pose the characters to the storyboards more precisely. It preserves vivid gestures that would be easily lost in the CG stage otherwise!

4.) Props and backgrounds. Sometimes, I put this off until after animation, but it's really best to do it now. This can be mesh objects, planes I've painted on--or, often, planes I've painted on and extruded partially into mesh. I like to use Geometry Nodes for mesh wherever possible, especially when instancing many objects! It makes dealing with tons of vines (and humans) much easier. Also experiment with Shader Nodes, since generated textures are crisper than you would get with anything but very large texture images. (And if you're using Cycles, don't overlook displacement! Though you'll have to remember to turn that on in the sidebar preferences. That said, I mostly use Eevee, but am starting to look into Cycles for backgrounds.)

5.) Finally, final animation! I've already put the rough poses down, so I begin by cleaning those up, then adding any needed transitional poses. Then, I manually tweak the speed of the tweening, and offset the movements of parts that drag or bounce more than the rest (e.g. antennae). When a character needs to stand mostly still, I'll add a very slight bob for a moving hold, so they don't look like a mannequin.

After this, I render the image sequences, then put them all together in a video sequencing file. There, I add the citation blips, credits, and Gregorsa's Notes, as well as do some editing in post. Then, it's time to render the final video!

Hope that helps. I wish you luck in your future Blender endeavors!

[pmd-etu]

Did a bunch of storyboards!

I decided to grind out the rest of the storyboards for chapter one and managed to do it in a day![Given, some pages are the same as the original comic I had done, but still!] WHEW..... There will be 35-40ish more pages for chapter 1, and then by the end of Chapter 2 we will officially get past where I canceled the comic before....! Exciting!

For reference, this is how I work on ETU:

-Scripting

-Story boarding

-Sketch

-Lineart

-Color

-Backgrounds

-Shading

-Effects

-Text

And I was doing that a few pages at a time, but I think in the long run its hurting more to do some of those in such small batches, so here's how im breaking it down in the future:

-I script at least two chapters ahead- this is something I'm doing anyways[I have an outline of everything I want in the story already, but scripting is more specific, like "amoris said x, hester did x"

-I'm going to start storyboarding whole chapters at a time- this will make it easier to make pages faster moving on, as I don't have to think of what they look like on the fly.

-The rest of the steps I will continue to do in batches of 5-10 pages, to be able to update at a regular pace!

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

Have you a creative process when you make comics or stories ? (Storyboard ect..) and if yes, can you explain it please ??

it depends on what the comic is. Some of them, as a recent example being the upcoming Frilda confession comic, I just come up with it and start drawing. Some of the other's however I need more preparation.

Knowing where a comic is taking place helps to find/look for any references I might need be it screenshots of backgrounds, character model sheets/screenshots, etc etc. If there's a new character or place then either in a series bible (like for my Leilana comics) or on scrap paper make sure to do some rough drafts until u find the right design. Trust me, it'll save a lot of time and paper, there's nothing worse than wearing down the paper with constant erasing only for when u finally get a design u like to have phantom lines all around from how damaged the paper is.

When writing a comic in my head, I'm able to hear the characters' voices and how they'd respond to what the scenario is. Going back and editing it is easier (tho' it makes me redo the whole scene which...yea...) however when I get an opportunity I begin writing things down. This part has the most cuts to every version that was in my head until it looks like it makes the most sense. I'll ask a friend to look it over so I can edit it again and once that's done then I get started on the rest (when I can, I ain't drawing a 4 page comic at 3 am...). Sometimes the script on paper can be wildly different from what was in your head and that's fine, I see it as ur hand(s) (hands if ur typing) editing ur brain and only putting down the important parts of the story.

Because I've been doing this for a while, I can read the script and come up with the panel placements in my head, sketching out the panels with my color-sketch pencils and making adjustments as needed (remember to draw lightly), do brief sketches of the characters and the backgrounds (where needed) and then adding the dialogue, sometimes I change up the dialogue from the script when I notice that it won't fit a word balloon that well or awkwardly, then once it's all ready I ink the dialogue, word balloons and panels in that order. Then ink the characters and backgrounds and effects. I add whatever else I need to do, shading, marker, etc etc and then it's done. Scan it in and either post it or hold on if it's a piece of a larger part.

Don't be afraid to try both scripted and unscripted comics either. I'd recommend scripting it if it's longer, and unscripted can be good for random jokes. A mixture of the two are also fine, I tend to have an outline for my Leilana comics, basic idea on what characters, setting, dialogue/jokes and then once I get the reference stuff done I start drawing. Tho' for the longer arcs, I make sure to write out a script so I can know how many comic strips I'll be drawing.

This method of course is how I find it best for me, it might not be the best for u and so if something doesn't work then don't worry about cutting it out of the step process. Comics r a fun form of art & storytelling and I highly encourage more ppl to try it no matter the skill level.